President honours army chief, JCSC head with Nishan-e-Imtiaz

A screengrab showing President Mamnoon Hussain and Army Chief Raheel Sharif.

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain on Friday honoured newly appointed army chief General Raheel Sharif and Chairperson Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Rashad Mehmood with the Nishan-e-Imtiaz (military) award, Radio Pakistan reported.

The ceremony took place at the Aiwan-e Sadr in Islamabad and was attended by civil and military leaders including Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

The army chief is the younger brother of Major Shabbir Sharif who won Pakistan’s highest military award – the Nishaan-e-Haider – for his martyrdom in the 1971 war with India.

Reader Comments (14)

It is procedural. The government puts light on these position holders and honours them for their service. They reached those positions because they were eligible. Appointment as COAS and Chairman JCSC are a poilcital decision though, but the other ones as described in the article, are on merit.

Pakistan Army started but Failed in 1948 Kashmir War.
Pakistan Army started but Failed in 1965 Kashmir War.
Pakistan Army Defeated and mega-Surrendered in 1971 Bangladesh War.
Pakistan Army started but Failed in Kargil War.
Pakistan Army Failed in ‘War on Terror’ — Surrende Swat to the Terrorists and Sky to US drones.

The rise of Raheel Sharif is in contradiction with the principles of modern warfare. You don’t promote someone because of the heroics of his brother. Up until 100 years war, it was the nobility which controlled the high ranking positions within the army. Against France, England changed this tradition, and promoted the generals which were more capable of delivering in the battlefield than acts of chivalry. Outcome was damning for the then superpower, France.

@ Jibran
It seems that you don’t know that General Raheel Sharif has risen to the rank of General from within the system of Pakistan Army. You have not read much about General (retired) Haroon Aslam either.
General (R) Haroon Aslam (then Brigadier) was at the forefront of the military coup d’état on the night of 12th October 1999. He was instrumental in arresting a number of elected representatives. The key player of the coup d’état & under-trial prisoner Pervez Musharraf has already confessed that “he was not alone in the coup” and therefore all his accomplices should also “be tried & punished under article-6″.
He was General Officer Commanding (GOC) Quetta and steered the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti in August 2006. The case of Akbar Bugti’s murder is also subjudiced in the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
A sitting Chief of Army Staff (COAS), with almighty power in uniform, could have impeded the legal proceedings and impeded justice.
Due to his over-expectations, General Haroon Aslam was made Chief of Logisitc Staff- a less important position implying that his chances for becoming COAS were very dim, even a year ago. He has been pulled up by General Musharraf because they hail from the same regiment (SSG).
As is the international norm, the selection of COAS is always made on seniority-cum-merit and Haroon Aslam, despite being serious-most, did not fall on merit.
I hope the above detail clarifies your misconceptions about military system well.